


Three Times Tomas Followed His Nose (and One Time He Followed Harry's)

by misura



Category: The Silvered - Tanya Huff
Genre: Community: lands_of_magic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 13:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5418221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A friendship in progress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Times Tomas Followed His Nose (and One Time He Followed Harry's)

.01

School, Tomas decided, was no fun at all. For one, he was expected to stay in skin during classes, which was just silly. He was _Pack_. Pack didn't stay in skin; that was the whole point.

For two, more often than not, he was bored. And hungry. It didn't help that even when he wasn't in fur, his nose was still sensitive enough to pick up all sorts of stuff. Right now, for example, he definitely smelled some very tasty sausage.

Sausage wasn't rabbit, of course, but it was still very good. Not as much fun to catch, but when you just wanted to _eat_ , without all this running around first, sausage was great.

In fur, he would have known exactly who to talk to during lunch break. In skin, he was only able to narrow it down to three people, none of whom were Pack. That was good; it meant they'd probably be happy to at least share. They might even let him have the whole thing.

Danika had told him that people who weren't Pack might try to get on his good side. She'd been a little vague on why, exactly, this was a Bad Thing, but Tomas figured that anyone who knew _anything_ would know that sausage was a very good way to get on someone's good side.

So maybe he didn't need to figure out who of the three boys had the sausage with him. Maybe he only had to wait until lunch time and then they'd come to _him_.

His stomach rumbled at the thought.

If people were going to feed him sausages, maybe school wasn't so bad after all.

 

.02

"Really," Harry said, "it's no big deal. I mean, I knew it was a long shot, anyway."

_Liar._ Tomas didn't need to be in fur to smell that Harry was upset. "That is a truly terrible pun."

Harry blinked at him, not getting it. More proof that Harry had really expected to pass the tests - which was fair enough; Tomas had expected the same, and unlike Harry, he was plenty familiar with the Mage Pack. True, Harry didn't smell as good as the Mage Pack, but sometimes, to Tomas, he smelled _almost_ as good. He'd figured that anyone who smelled _almost_ as good as the Mage Pack would be powerful enough to join the artillery.

Clearly, he'd been wrong. "I'm sorry." He hadn't told Harry that he smelled good, of course. Everybody knew what it meant when someone of the Pack told someone they smelled good, and then Tomas would have had to explain that he hadn't meant it like _that_.

The fact that sometimes, he wasn't sure that he didn't mean it exactly like _that_ didn't help.

Harry shook his head. "No, you're right. Terrible pun. I should be ashamed of myself. I mean, just because _I'm_ suffering, that doesn't mean I have to make _you_ suffer, too."

"Well, it wasn't that bad. Given the circumstances."

"You know I'm not about to kill myself or something, do you? Yes, I'm disappointed, but it's not the end of the world. I'll get over it."

Tomas grinned. "All right. No more coddling. Yes, it was a terrible pun. And yes, you totally suck for not passing. You're a worthless waste of space and as of tomorrow, I can't be your friend anymore."

Harry scowled at him. He still smelled a little upset, but less than before.

Tomas changed and licked his face.

 

.03

_Rabbit brains!_

Big camp, lots of people. Lots of _smells_. Tomas knew he'd left his clothes _somewhere_ , but right now, he had no idea where.

Of course, he could go to any member of the Hunt Pack. Plenty of rookies forgot their clothes the first couple of times they changed - it was nothing to be ashamed of. They'd tease him a little, but with luck, neither Danika nor Ryder would ever hear of it, and that would be that.

_Think!_

He didn't want people to think of him as a rookie, though. He wanted -

"Lord Hagen." Harry smirked. Not good. On the other hand, Harry might know where his clothes were.

Tomas whined softly. It was harder to communicate with people who weren't Pack when he was in fur, but Harry wasn't an idiot. Sooner or later, he'd figure out what Tomas wanted.

Hopefully sooner, given that Tomas was supposed to be attending a briefing later this afternoon. His hearing worked just fine when he was in fur, naturally, but you were still supposed to show up for briefings in skin, and clothed.

"Looking for a brush? I see your tail - "

Tomas growled. He didn't show teeth - this was Harry, after all.

" - has got some burrs in it," Harry finished smoothly. "No? Some vegetable stew, perhaps?"

Harry was enjoying this far too much. Tomas concluded that meant that Harry did, in fact, know exactly what Tomas wanted. He was just being a pain about it, as usual.

If _Ryder_ ever wanted someone to bring him some clothes, Tomas was sure nobody'd go and be a pain about _that_. Ryder was Pack, and everybody knew you treated Pack with respect.

Tomas was Pack, too.

Harry sighed. "C'mon. I've got some spare clothes at my tent."

Tomas didn't wag his tail. That would be very undignified. He did, however, permit Harry to scratch that spot behind his ears he never quite seemed able to reach himself.

 

.01

Snow didn't feel any less cold or wet when when he was in skin than when he was in fur, but Tomas told himself that at least when he was in skin, he'd be able to get rid of the wet part a lot easier.

Clothes tended to dry a lot quicker than fur. They were less prone to catch fire, too.

"Are you sure we're headed in the right direction?" Harry had a compass. He'd told Tomas so repeatedly and would doubtless do so again any moment now.

The last time Tomas checked, a compass was not capable to pointing you in the direction of, say, some hot food. They were lost; knowing they were headed east (or west or wherever they were headed) would not change that.

Finding shelter within the next half hour _would_ make Tomas feel a bit better about it, though.

"I have a compass," Harry said, right on cue. "We should be close to some cabins by now."

Tomas wondered if Harry was aware that there was no actual logical connection between those two statements. Yes, Harry had a compass. And yes, given they'd been walking for hours now, they did seem due some good fortune in the shape of some cabins - even if at this point, Tomas'd be willing to settle for a nice, cozy cave.

"Should be?" They'd been shown maps, true. Funny thing about being lost, though: even if you kept walking in a straight line, you still wouldn't know where you were, unless you spotted something familiar, or something you'd seen on a map. Like, for example - "I see them."

Harry squinted, as if his eye sight could ever compare to that of the Pack. "You're sure?"

"It might be an illusion. I've been told those happen sometimes in the desert."

"You're lucky you're cute, warm and fluffy, you know that?"

_Fluffy?_ "It's very sad that you're none of those things. That must be hard on you sometimes."

"Just make sure you don't go nibbling on my toes again in your sleep. I like my toes."

_Clearly, so do I._ "Fine. I'll find something else to nibble on." Harry stopped walking for a moment and gave him a look. "What? I was asleep. I can't promise not to do something while I'm asleep."

"That good, huh?"

Tomas didn't actually remember. It _sounded_ kind of gross. He couldn't actually smell much of anything right now, but he knew what Harry's boots smelled like and it certainly wasn't anything he'd like to sink his teeth into.

Which, of course, he hadn't, Harry's accusations notwithstanding. At worst, he'd been sucking on them for a bit. _Right. That sounds_ so _much better._

"Maybe there's going to be lots of blankets inside." They should be so lucky.

Harry snorted. "Yes. And maybe we're going to find a hot dinner on the table."

They found neither, of course.

Still, when Tomas woke up the next morning, there was nothing in his mouth that didn't belong there, so at least there was that.


End file.
